Not to get into that particular pie fight, but "I estimate one third of all Americans believe..." isn't always a good basis to argue from...

Are we safer now since W has been in office or are we not, which is what McConnell, Rockefeller et. al. are telling us?

I believe their theory of security is something like Zeno's paradox:

"With our progam, you get safer and safer, but never safe enough."

One must remember, and I've heard it in more than one place (some actually reputable) that the subject of that painting is a horse thief. Too fitting...

"They may deploy resources to mount attacks outside the country," Mike McConnell told a Senate hearing, although he also said that fewer than 100 terrorists have moved to establish cells in other countries.”

Help those 100 incredibly dangerous AQI terrorists are on their way to get you. Once they leave Iraq, that is the first step in process you were warned over and over about that if we don’t get them over there, they will get us over here.

Surely you realize that in the 21st century, it is OK for our government to break U.S. and international law as long as the intentions are “good.” How can anyone be held accountable for loving their country? It’s OK to put out lies and invade another nation under false pretenses because they aren’t a democratic nation and weren’t doing a good job of distributing and protecting their natural resources. It’s OK to torture an enemy because the information is so important that the future fate of our military who go in harms way and will suffer the same torture is not important. And anyway, their suffering is in the future and it won’t gain near the publicity of stopping a terrorist attack now. We have to stop them now!

These scare MONGERS are so frightening that when they head down a slippery slope that abandons standards of conduct and ethics where any means including breaking the law and violating the constitution is OK as long as the immediate ends are achieved, it’s OK. Never fear because they just want to love and protect us.

With what they are teaching me about the law, if I get arrested for torturing my neighbor because I thought he was manufacturing a secret weapon and I mistakenly thought I didn’t have time to wait to see if he did pose a serious threat even though my other neighbors were doing a good job of visiting and inspecting his home, I won’t be charged. If my government won’t be held accountable, I shouldn’t be either and if someone does try to charge me I will just claim state secrets or ask the legislature to pass retroactive immunity. Failing that I can load up the state and federal courts and buy my freedom.

And yet, the Dems won’t even carry out an investigation of Junior and his band of criminals. It strains credulity. Is this nightmare really happening?

Once again, the partisan politicization of our governmental protectors has led to nothing more than protection of Republicans. And terrorists.

Democrats must make the Bushies show their cards. The threats only serve to give Republicans cover for illegality and fascist re writes of our constitutional protections.

"Nice family you got there... Shame if something were to happen to it"

This is the real threat, not that Al Qaeda might attack, but that Bush might pull another false-flag operation on behalf of Al Qaeda. Even if you don't believe Bush had a hand in 911, and even if IN FACT he had no hand in 911, that doesn't preclude him from secretly threatening Congressmen today.

By my best info, I estimate one third of all Americans believe our gov had a hand in 911. It stands to reason that at least a third of Congressmen fear the Bush government would dare to do it a second time, even if they doubt Bush was behind the first attacks.

"...Al Qaeda is coming to get us in our Homeland..."

If our citizens are so afraid of the terrorists, why the hell do we allow them to amass so many guns? This is the America of the frontier, and of aWol's picture of the guy riding up the hill?

Wimps!

So Al Queda is smart enough to launch a terrorist attack against us, but not smart enough not to use their cell phones to plan the thing?

the Democrats in Congress call for more oversight of Al Qaeda. The Repugs are running them with hardly any checks or oversight. We can't afford to let such an important component of US state security to be so poorly mismanaged.

I mean, we haven't had a high state of alert since last August? Come on! we're hardly getting our money's worth here.

Maybe we can at least get the terror alerts signed by a secret FISA court. What's Dodd's position on this?

Are we safer now since W has been in office or are we not, which is what McConnell, Rockefeller et. al. are telling us?

"Al-Qa'ida is improving the last key aspect of its ability to attack the U.S.: the identification, training, and positioning of operatives for an attack in the homeland," he wrote in the 47-page document.

...that the oh so macho president isn't saying "Bring 'em on!" to this one? This is the administration that accused the military and intelligence people of cowardice, the Democrats of treason and the American people of lacking patriotism. This is also the administration who, within the same testimony as above, referred to the Musharraf government as "the legitimate government of Pakistan." Yeah, right. Suspended the constitution (POC), put the judiciary under house arrest, usurped power, rigging elections, murdered the opposition, trains and sends suicide bombers to the neighboring countries, forces its own citizens to engage in suicide bombings by threatening to kill all the relatives, prosecutes the victims of rape for adultery, rules without Constitutional authority from a military commander-in-chief position.

I guess that would constitute a legitimate government to the Republican party.

They should have asked Messrs. McConnell and Hayden about the disappeared prisoners in Pakistan and the ruling by the Pakistani Supreme Judicial Court that handing over prisoners to the Americans to be taken to Bagram was illegal extraordinary rendition.

I have completed sending letters to my congressional delegation demanding that they begin prosecutions for torture under U.N.CATCIDT. Failure to prosecute and punish is also a breach.